Media Team
(press office)
All media, but particularly local and regional newspapers, radio and television, play a key role in keeping people in touch with what the council is doing.
Bolton Council has its own media team which is responsible for managing the authority’s relationship with the local, regional, national and even international media.
About the team
The media team is part of the council’s Communications and Marketing. The team sends out around 400 press releases a year telling the Bolton Council story. But that’s just one part of their work.
Media officers also handle dozens of media enquiries every week – some of which are original enquiries about ‘new’ stories; others related to stories which are published in other newspapers and media, ranging from television news to the internet. Some enquiries will follow up issues from previously published stories. Once an enquiry is received the media officer will liaise with council officers across the authority to obtain the relevant information for a statement to be issued as quickly as possible. Sometimes we will ask the media to speak directly to an officer expert in a particular area.
The team also arrange press conferences and press briefings; photocalls and interviews; write press releases and write stories for Bolton Scene; the council’s highly successful, award-winning, newspaper which goes to some 120,000 households throughout the borough four times per year.
They also work closely with other staff, as well as officers and members of the council, attending key departmental meetings to ensure they are as up-to-date as possible about current issues.
Each media officer is allocated departments to work with, although all officers can and will respond to queries depending on availability within the team.
The team also monitors press coverage and provides feedback to members and officers of the council as appropriate on coverage. Their strategic work also involves long-term planning and issues management, ensuring we build our relationships with the media, at all levels, to ensure effective media coverage as and when required. In addition, the team is responsible for the coordination of media response and handling in the event of a crisis or emergency occurring in the Bolton area.
Making a press enquiry
The media team is the first stop for journalists wanting information about the council. Contact details can be found via the link at the right of the page. Media officers will then liaise as outlined above to provide an answer as speedily as possible.
News about the authority
If the council is making an announcement this generally takes the form of a press release which is sent around local and regional, national and sometimes even international media. Press releases are tailored for and targeted to general and specialist media, depending on what the story is about, to gain maximum publicity.
However, press releases must follow a strict protocol and must stay within the law governing the media and local government. They must not be interpreted to be affecting public support for a political party. This is particularly important in the period leading up to an election.
There are guidelines in the Code of Recommended Practice on local authority publicity which highlights the factors to be taken into consideration at all times by the media team when making decisions about publicity. For more information click on the 'Communities and Local Government' link above.
Usually it is Executive Members of the Council who are quoted in press releases and their comments must relate to the subject of the release. Similar guidelines apply to the chairs of Scrutiny Committees.
All releases must be strictly factual and should not include anything which could be construed as politically motivated or biased. If journalists wish to speak to senior officers they are not allowed to enter into political debate with them or ask them to comment directly on Executive decisions of the council. Similarly the media officers will only provide factual information about the work of the council. This information will not contain any political opinion. they must deal with the politicians directly.
However, these rules do not mean that political interviews cannot take place. If a journalist is seeking a political view on a certain matter, for whatever reason, they are referred to the appropriate party group leader who will answer their questions directly.